Automatic overflow-gate.



PATENTED APR. 14, 1908.

H. A. BROOKS.

AUTOMATIC OVERFLOW GATE APPLICATION FILED JULYZ5, 1906.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. i

HARRY A. BROOKS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO BLAISDELL COMPANY, OF

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC OVERFLOW-GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 14, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY A. BROOKS, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in the city and county of Los Angeles, State of California, have invented a new and useful Automatic Overflow-Gate, and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to collecting vats, and particularly to an overflow gate located on the central plug commonly used in collecting vats employed in hydro-metallurgical processes, and has for its object to provide a gate that will obviate the necessity of forming openings in the side walls of such vats or tanks.

Another object of this invention is to provide a gate that will occupy a position in the vat where it will least obstruct any machinery that may be used to distribute material within the vat.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a gate that can be removed entirely from the vat so that any operation u on the contents thereof may be more easl y performed.

A further object is to provide a gate which may be 0 erated automatically.

Still another 0 ject of this invention is to provide a gate that may be operated by other than human power.

Yet a further object is to dispense with the necessity of separately adjusting a number of independent devices.

With these and other objects in view, this invention consists of the construction and combination of parts described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation, showing a distributer and a portion of a bridge supporting it and also a vat in which the apparatus is adapted to be used. Fig. 2 is a detail of the hoisting apparatus on said bridge. Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the gate; Fig. 4 is an elevation of an electric hoisting gear.

Referring to the drawings, and especially to Fig. 1, reference character 1 designates a vat, along the sides of a row of which may be erected posts 2, supporting timbers 3, on which are fastened rails 4, on which travel means of eye bolts 42.

wheels 5, of a bridge 6. The center of the bridge carries a distributer 7 having arms 8. In an opening in the center of the bottom of vat L is inserted a removable polygonal plug 9, said plug being round where it fits in the opening (as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3) and capable of being lifted therefrom by The plug 9, may be made up of vertical bars 10, held together by top frame 11 and bottom frame 12.

Surrounding the plug 9, is a ring 13, hav ing hangers 14 supporting rollers 15, to which are fastened the upper ends of ourtains 16, made of canvas or other suitable material. A spider 17, is within the plug 9, and its arms 18, extend between bars 10, and are fast to the ring 13.

In the center of the spider is a short post 19, having at its top a ring 20, caught by hook 21, which is connected with a chain 22. Chain 22 extends u through an opening in the axis of the distri uter 7, over a pocketed chain wheel 23, and down to a counter balance 24. Chain wheel 23 is fast to a shaft 25, supported in bearings carried by bridge 6. Shaft 25 also has fast to it a gear 26, driven by pinion 27. On the shaft with pinion 27 is a gear 28 which receives motion from a pinion 29 on a shaft, the outer end of which carries a friction disk 30, driven by friction wheel 31 mounted in slidable bearing 32, and splined to the shaft 34. Bearing 32 may be moved by means of screw 33.

On the lower end of shaft 34 is a star wheel 35, with which pin 36, on the distributer, contacts. A ratchet 37 is fast to shaft 34 and is provided with a pawl 38 to prevent the backward movement of the shaft by the weight of the parts depending from chain 22. I

In Fig. 4 is illustrated an alternative form of the lifting gear. On the shaft 25 is a worm wheel 39 driven by a worm 40, on the armature shaft of an electric motor 41.

The operation of this invention is as follows: Material being delivered to the distributeI 7, is discharged by the arms 8 thereof and the distributer caused to rotate by the reactionary effect, as will be understood by those skilled in this art. The heavier articles of the material will settle on the ottom of the vat, while the water and the fine particles held in suspension, will flow over the rollers 15 through the openings between bars 10 of the plug and thence throu h the opening in the bottom of the vat. s the vat becomes filled with the heavier particles contained in the material, the pin 36 carried by the distributer 7, will, through the star wheel 35 and the'lifting gear previously described, raise ring 13 and consequently the rollers 15 and curtains 16, thus preventing the escape of the solid particles with the water. If the above described operation of the mechanism is too rapid, the screw 33 may be turned to lower the friction wheel 31 to a position nearer to the periphery of the disk 30, thereby making the hoisting apparatus Work at aslower speed. If the material tends to rise in the vat more rapidly than the gate is elevated, the screw 33 may be turned in a reverse direction thereby increasing the speed of the hoisting apparatus. In the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 4, the electric motor 41 may be operated at a speed sufficient to keep the top of the curtains at the required distance above the surface of the solid matter in the Vat. When it is desired to lift the plug and accompanying apparatus from its position in the vat, the rings 42 may be engaged by hooks depending from part of a crane or other lifting apparatus.

' Claims:

1. A perforated plug, a curtain thereon having its upper end rolled and means to unroll said upper end.

2. A' perforated plug, a curtain thereon having its upper end rolled and counterbalanced means to unroll said end.

3. A perforated plug, curtains thereon havingtheir upper ends rolled and auto-.

matic means to unroll the same.

4. A polygonal perforated plug, a plurality of curtains mounted against its sides, a ring having bearings carrying rollers fixed to the tops of the curtains and means for raising the ring, thereby unrolling the curtains and closin the perforations in the plug.

5. A polygonal perforated plug, a plurality of curtains mounted against its sides, a

ring carrying rollers fixed to the tops of the curtains, and automatic means for raising the ring.

6. A polygonal perforated tapered plug, a plurality of curtains mounted against its sides, a ring carrying rollers fixed to the tops of the curtains, and means for raising the ring.

7. A polygonal perforated tapered plug, a

a chain forming plurality of curtains mounted against its sides, a ring carrying rollers fixed to the tops of the curtains and automatic means for raising the ring.

8. A perforated plug, curtains adapted to close said perforations, a distributer, a lifting apparatus driven by said distributer and connections between said curtains and lifting apparatus.

9. A receptacle, a perforated plug therein, a flexible gate to close said perforations, and means for operating said-gate.

10. A receptacle, a polygonal plug therein, flexible curtains to close said perforations and means foroperating said curtains.

11. A receptacle, a polygonal plug therein, formed With vertical bars, a ring surrounding said plug, rollers carried by said ring, curtains on said rollers, a spider having arms fastened to said ring, a lifting apparatus and a counter balance.

12. A polygonal perforated plug, a plurality of i and fastened to the plug at their bottoms, a ring surrounding said plug carrying rollers to which the tops of the curtains are fixed and about which they are Wound and means for unrolling the curtains to close the openings in the plu 13. A vat, a hollow plug therein having its sides perforated and means for closing the perforations.

14. A vat a perforated plug therein, mechanism for closing the perforations in said plug and means for removing said plug from said vat.

15. A vat, a central closure therefor, formed of bars spaced apart, and means for closing the apertures between said bars.

16. A vat, a central closure therefor formed of bars arranged at a distance apart, means for closing the apertures between said bars and mechanism for removing the closure from the vat.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, State of California, this 12 day of July, A. D. 1906.

HARRY A. BROOKS. Witnesses:

H. L. GORDON, lVfARIE H. HUEHNER.

curtains mounted against its side. 

